Darkness
by Mouse9
Summary: Ginny reflects on her life after the war.


The darkness resonated through the house, save for a small space the fireplace was desperately trying to light and warm. A lone woman sat in a chair near the fire, staring silently at the orange flickers, her mind replaying scenes in her head, desperately trying to work her mind around the insanity threatening to overwhelm her.  
  
I'm so tired of being here...  
  
In the distance, she could hear the soft sobbing of the other woman in the small house.   
* Hermione. * Her tortured mind thought briefly, still staring at the fire. * She lost so much. We both lost so much. *  
  
Suppressed by all my childish fears...  
  
Every night, the same images played over and over in her mind. She didn't want to dwell on it. It would be much easier if they would just go away, if he would just go away, leave her remaining shards of sanity intact. But he wouldn't, he never would. He hadn't left her since the first day she met him; even now, when death was sure and final, he still wouldn't leave her mind, her thoughts, her dreams...  
  
Your face it haunts, my once pleasant dreams...  
  
She'd only been a child. A young girl when they'd met. When he manipulated her, warped her mind, practically raped her soul. Stood by, sucking the life from her as she died. But she was saved...briefly.  
  
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me.  
  
She had nightmares for a time...but slowly as she grew older, the nightmares changed. Changed into something she ached for, something she needed, craved. He changed...his body staying the same as she had first saw him; but his features, his emotions, him. She grew to look foreword to her nightly dreams of him. It was almost real...real for her.   
  
You used to captive me, by your resonating light,  
  
It was silly, but she grew to love him, depend on him to pull her through the long lonely days. She slept more on the weekends, just to be with him. Their first kiss was perfect, everything she'd expected...even if it was a dream. The first time they made love, she cried.   
When she awoke to find bloodstains on the sheet, that's when she realized the dreams were real.  
  
But now I'm bound by the life you left behind...  
  
She wasn't the only one with a secret. She found herself drawing closer to the girl her brother called friend. The darkness edged at her also, making them almost inseparable. At times she envied Hermione. The older girl could actually touch her dark man...in the daylight, if she wished...not only in dreams. But she wouldn't have wished for that life. To see him every day and to not touch him...not speak to him...not look at him. The agony was too intense.  
  
These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase.  
  
They were there for the final battle. Two women carrying the same secret. Hermione understood her and she understood Hermione. Yet, there they were...in the battle, fighting for the light, all the while watching their men fighting against them.   
Draco went down first. She had watched Hermione stand by helplessly as one of her best friends shot down the man she loved with a killing curse.  
It came to the final stand off between the dark lord and the powerful force for the light. It was her turn to stand by helplessly and watch as they faced off. As Hermione before her, she would stand resolutely, not waver, emotionless. He turned, looked at her from beneath the cloak, really looked at her. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her. Then he turned back.   
With a flash, it was over. They had won. But at a terrible price.   
  
If you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave, because your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone.  
  
She sat there, reliving the last glance. She didn't know how it could be any different...for either of them.  
As if summoned, a figure emerged just outside the fire's glow.  
"Ginny?"  
The woman in the chair didn't move. The other woman walked into the light, her brown hair mussed, her eyes puffy and red rimmed from crying. She's been crying for days. Everyone was worried she was going insane.   
But it wasn't Hermione whose sanity was in question. It was hers.   
  
What would you still have of me?  
  
Hermione kneeled in front of the chair, her eyes searching the younger red haired woman's face. No sadness, no tears, no emotion. Nothing.  
"Ginny?" she tried again. The green eyes flicked down to meet her brown ones. Behind the coldness, her eyes told everything.  
"The dreams...they're gone, aren't they?"  
The woman said nothing, her eyes showing a faint glimmer of hurt. Hermione winced, feeling tears well in her eyes again. Over the days, she'd cried; cried for her, for her love, for Ginny. Especially for Ginny.  
"I can't sleep." the small voice said. "How can I sleep?"  
Hermione stood up, wiping her eyes. Sitting down in the big chair next to her, she wrapped her arms around the small shoulders. Ginny shuddered, a ragged sigh leaving her body, a hand coming up to cover Hermione's.  
Both women sat there into the night, silently, both lost in their thoughts. Until death came to claim them both, there would never be rest.  
  
What would you still have...of me?  
A/N  
  
The is my first Gin & Tonic story. The song is "My Immortal" by Evanesance. And because I'm a huge D/Hr shipper, of course, there are hints of my favorite couple in here.  
I don't own Harry Potter. Nor do I own Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger or anyone else mentioned in this fic. J.K.R. does and God love her for it. 


End file.
